Stevie Wonder - Stevie Wonder Song Review Greatest Hits (31 tracks) +Album Reviews

A head scratcher..better compilations are available

David Pearlman | Arlington, MA United States | 12/23/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First things first: Stevie Wonder's album output of the '70s is
among the finest continuous strings in the history of
popular recorded music. Of that there cannot be any
argument. What can be argued is that there has never been
a wholly satisfactory compiliation that summarizes his entire
career, save for the 4CD set "End of a Century". Admittedly,
it's a difficult task, since you need to cover the '60s
Motown "factory" era, which yielded a lot of great pop/R&B
singles, the '80s and '90s which yielded a few delights,
though they are too sparsly scattered, and the '70s which
are hard to distill at all, since the original albums are so consistently strong.That said, this collection is just not very good. The
sequencing is ridiculous (starting with the disposable
"Part Time Lover"?) and the track selection is questionable
(a lot of grade A tracks were left off so that...what?...they
could include "Ebony and Ivory"?) Ounce for ounce, Original
Musicquarium, a good if too-short compilation of the '70s
is a better bet. You could couple Original Musiquarium
with a '60s hits compilation (unfortunately, there's not
good definitive '60s set, but I guess you could go with
Greatest Hits Vol I [too bad Motown & Stevie haven't seen fit
to reissue the excellent 3LP "Looking Back" which DID cover
the '60s stuff properly) and get most of the essential Stevie
Wonder. But at that point, you'd still be missing the few
highlights from the 80s and 90s. For example, the brilliant
Overjoyed (good tune and dig that incredible phrasing) and
Stevie's terrific cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" which
is available on no other compilation but this one. At the end of the day, the Stevie Wonder compilation catalogue
is still something of a mess (due in no small part to the
fact that Stevie has veto power over any Motown reissue), and
IMHO you're left with only two good alternatives: The 4 CD
"End of a Century", which is quite good, even if it is also
completely obvious in track selection, or the 2CD Original
Musiquarium. Or, heck, go back and buy the '70s albums, since
they are truly all worth owning in their entirty anyway, then
maybe break down and buy In Circle Square because you HAVE
to own Overjoyed. Maybe."

I LOVE STEVIE!

kendari2 | California | 11/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a definite treat for any Stevie Wonder fan. You will definitely get your fill. I was disappointed that this greatest hits collection did not include the WONDERful song "Isn't She Lovely" and the beautiful love song "As" both from the "Songs in the Key of Life" collection. I still gave it 5 stars though because I absolutely love Stevie. Peace!"

Something for Everybody

Dean Martin Dent | 02/05/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although Original Musiquarium & At The Close of A Century are better compilations,Song Review is a less expensive more well rounded collection,as well as a recommendation for the uninitiated.Unlike Musiquarium, that focuses on his brilliant 1972-1980 work,Song Review also features his 60's & 80's work.And for the Stevie fan,it featues the first appearance of Ebony & Ivory and Stay Gold(from The Outsiders) on a Stevie Wonder collection.Also a bonus are the single mixes of many songs making it a blessing when making Stevie mix tapes.The only problem is a "thrown together" feel of the sequencing,where different era & song styles don't mesh.And like many compilations,some essential songs aren't included in favor of others thats on every compilation(where's You Haven't Done Nothing, a #1 hit , If You Really Love Me,Shoo-Be-doo...)and the editing of the 10 minute plus Do I Do & the 6 Minute Lovelight In Flight would've left room for more songs.In all this should be a starting point for people getting into Stevie's Music.Then from there Innervision,Talking Book,Fullfillingness...you get the picture."

Song Preview: Greatest Bits

who1zep | Kentucky Wildcats! | 10/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This collection suffers from the same problem that afflicted Pat Benatar's "All Fired Up: The Best of ..." and David Bowie's "Singles Collection" -- if the record company could find a shorter version, they used it. What follows is the time for some of my favorite songs (not a complete list), with the version found on "At the Close of the Century" versus "Song Preview":Superstition 4:26 > 4:02
Living For The City 7:23 > 3:41
Higher Ground 3:42 > 3:09
Boogie On Reggae Woman 5:13 > 4:09
Master Blaster (Jammin') 5:09 > 4:49
Part Time Lover 4:12 > 3:43Here are some of the bigger songs missing from Song Preview that you'll find on Century:Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day
Until You Come Back To Me
For Once In My Life
Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
We Can Work It Out
If You Really Love Me
Superwoman
Isn't She Lovely
You Haven't Done Nothin'
...and a few others (Century is 4 CDs)Don't fool around with this package -- get Century. Century also supplants "Original Musiquarium", which also had the full-length versions but is missing many tracks included on Century."

Nice Try

who1zep | 04/22/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Stevie Wonder is one of the most spectacular artists still living today. I understand how hard it is to try to consolidate ALL of the major hits of such an artist. The task is mind-blowing. Yet you would think the people who put this together would at least start in a particular order (chronological maybe). Starting with square one is usually important, especially for new fans. After we're past that fact, then we see that they are missing some very important milestone songs. You might want to put an artist's first major hit on the album (FINGERTIPS)! Other songs were not nearly as important: "Love's Light in Flight", "Hold On to Your Dreams", and "Hey Love" to name a few could have easily been replaced with hits like: "For Once In My Life", "Knocks Me Off MY Feet" or even "Isn't She Lovely". To 2 CD set's credit, there are some very commendable liner notes by someone obviously pretty educated (from Stanford). There are also rare songs like "Ebony and Ivory", "The Redemption Song", and quiet hits like "That Girl", "All I Do", and "Kiss Lonely Goodbye" which is not on the box set. This is a good CD if you just want to hear some Stevie Wonder (nothing wrong with that). For true fans, you may want to get a more extensive album (Looking Back, Essential, and At the Close of a Century). Although this CD set does not have everything, it has enough for me to say that I wouldn't trade it for the world. The rare tracks and selective arrangement make this an album to take into consideration."

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